Just 4 Play. Cindi Myers

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      She stepped back, a scornful expression on her face that might have been more effective if it hadn’t made him think of the I Dream of Jeannie reruns he’d seen on Nick at Night.

      “Just 4 Play has a reputation too,” she said. “And it’s not as bad as you seem to think. You haven’t even been here an hour and already you’re making judgments. You ought to at least give us a chance to show you what this place, and our customers, are really like.”

      He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. The architects are all ready to draw up the plans and I’ve started the paperwork for the construction loan and building permits.”

      Sid’s shoulders slumped. “So when do we shut the doors?”

      “You have a month.” He waved his hand at the shelves of bottles, boxes and gadgets, avoiding Jill’s angry face. “You’d better start marking things down.” He checked his watch. In thirty minutes, he had to meet Lana at the bank. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

      Jill caught up with him at the door. “Isn’t there anything we can do to change your mind?” she asked.

      He shook his head. “Not a thing. I’m the kind of man who, when I make up my mind to do something, it stays made up.” He hadn’t put himself and his sister through school and started his own real estate business by being wishy-washy.

      “You say that as if it’s a virtue.”

      Her words caught him off guard. He studied the toes of his shoes for a moment, then looked up at her. “I guess if you think life is all about fun, it isn’t,” he said. He nodded goodbye and opened the door.

      He thought he’d gotten the last word, but right before the door shut, her voice drifted to him. “If you don’t have fun, you don’t have a life, Mr. Landry. Too bad no one ever taught you that.”

      JILL SLAMMED THE DOOR SHUT on Mitch Landry, then turned and punched Blow-Up Betty right in the stomach. “I can’t believe he would do this to us!”

      Betty swung back and forth on her stand until Sid moved over to steady her. “Careful with the merchandise, sister.”

      She brushed by Sid and began to pace. “I mean, how can he waltz in here, take one look around and decide to shut us down?”

      “He’s the owner. He can do anything he wants.” Sid walked over to the cash register and slumped onto the stool behind the counter. “I guess we’d better start looking for other jobs.”

      “I don’t want another job.” Jill didn’t stamp her foot, but she wanted to. This was one of those times when an all-out temper tantrum would have felt good. “I want to keep this one. There must be something we can do.”

      “You heard the man. He’s got the architects working already. In another few months people will be ordering up fried rice where the costume rack is now.” He picked up the paper and opened it to the classified ads. “There must be something in here I could do.”

      Jill hurried over to him and grabbed his arm. “Sid, you don’t want to get another job.”

      His eyebrow ring rose. “I don’t?”

      “No. If you get another job, they’ll make you change your hair. Or get rid of your jewelry.” She leaned closer, her voice almost a whisper. “They’ll make you wear a suit. And a tie.”

      Sid put a hand to his throat. “A tie?” He shook his head. “There must be something I can do where I don’t have to wear a tie.”

      “Not and still have the title of manager. Even the manager of McDonald’s wears a tie. Plus, anyplace else you go to work, you’re liable to have to be there at eight o’clock, or even earlier.”

      “Eight in the morning?” Just 4 Play opened at 11:00 a.m. and closed at 10:00 p.m. For a night owl like Sid, 8:00 a.m. might as well be the middle of the night. He laid aside the paper and gave her a stricken look. “What can we do?”

      “We have to change his mind.”

      “How? We only have a month.” He looked around the store. “By then we might be sold out of everything.”

      “We’ll simply have to show him how important this place is—that we provide a much-needed service for people.”

      Sid frowned. “How can you do that? I mean, let’s face it, we’re not exactly the food bank. Plenty of people get along fine without candy pants and nipple rings.”

      “Only because they don’t know what they’re missing.” Inspiration sent tingles up her spine. She grinned. “I’ve got it!”

      Sid leaned away from her. “Got what?”

      “I know how we can convince Mitch Landry not to close the store.”

      “How?”

      She plucked a jar of body chocolate from a display on the counter and began rolling it back and forth in her palms. “I think a little seduction is in order.” She looked at Sid. “I’ll make sure our Mr. Landry gets acquainted with the delights of some of our merchandise.”

      A pleasant warmth curled up from her stomach as the idea took hold. Really, it was a brilliant plan. Mitch Landry wasn’t a bad person, merely uninformed. He had a great body and definite masculine appeal. It might even be fun to strip away some of his stuffy attitude and inhibitions, not to mention that suit and starched shirt.

      Sid looked skeptical. “You think that would really make any difference?”

      She set the jar of chocolate on the counter. “Sure it would. Once he’s having so much fun with the stuff we sell, it would be hypocritical to close us down.”

      “You think he’d care about that?”

      “You heard the man. It’s not about money for him, it’s about reputation. Responsibilities. He’s got integrity up to his eyeballs.” She gave a mock salute. “No, I just have to find a way to get him to loosen up.” Half the fun would be knowing where to start.

      Sid shook his head. “I don’t know, Jill. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get personally involved.”

      “Oh come on, I’m a big girl. It’s not as if I plan to get serious with the guy. We’ll just have a little fun.”

      “He might not feel the same way. He struck me as the type who takes everything seriously.”

      She shrugged off the truth of Sid’s words. Seducing Mitch Landry would be a dangerous game, but nobody had ever mistaken her for a coward. “I’ll be doing him a favor by showing him how to lighten up.”

      “And if it doesn’t work?”

      She leaned on the counter, chin in her hands, and smiled to herself. “Then I’ll have a hell of a lot of fun trying, won’t I?”

      3

      MITCH WAS FIVE MINUTES LATE to meet Lana, but he wasn’t worried, because she was guaranteed СКАЧАТЬ